Super Mario rules out Italian job

Date: 10/01/02

EU Competition chief Mario Monti has ruled out becoming Italy's new foreign minister if the job is offered to him by Silvio Berlusconi.

Monti was thought to be a possible candidate for the job following Renato Ruggiero's resignation at the weekend amid disputes with eurosceptic members of the administration.

Currently, Berlusconi is acting as both prime minister and foreign minister and has said he is prepared to continue in this dual role for six months if necessary.

Berlusconi is an admirer of Monti, who turned down the foreign portfolio when it was offered to him last year. The commissioner said then he wanted to finish his job in Brussels.

Sources close to the cartel-buster say his response will be the same in the 'unlikely' event of him being asked again.

The man most widely tipped to fill the vacancy so far is the deputy prime minister, Gianfranco Fini, who leads the post-fascist National Alliance Party.

Meanwhile, Italy's Europe minister, Rocco Buttiglione, stated his country is embarking on a policy of greater assertiveness in the EU. He said France and Germany had been dominant for too long and Italy would now adopt a more British approach to its EU dealings.

EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has ruled out becoming Italy's new foreign minister if the job is offered to him by Silvio Berlusconi.